Va`s In Market For Palm Beach County Hospital

WANTED: 625-bed hospital in Palm Beach County to care for veterans. Will buy or lease. Price negotiable. Please reply immediately to the Veterans Administration.

That is the offer the Veterans Administration made this month to hospitals throughout Palm Beach County. The VA said it was considering buying an existing hospital instead of building a 625-bed hospital it has on the drawing board.

There are a couple of hitches in the buy-out offer: There aren`t any 625-bed hospitals in Palm Beach County. Most of the hospitals here aren`t even half that size.

And the larger hospitals that have looked at the VA`s offer don`t appear eager to sell.

``I can assure you that this hospital is not contemplating selling to the Veterans Administration,`` Roy Wright, planning director for Boca Raton Community Hospital, said on Wednesday. ``I don`t think they`re going to find any takers.``

Boca Raton Community, the county`s largest hospital, has 394 beds.

The Veterans Administration had planned to start building a $134 million, 625-bed hospital in Palm Beach County by 1990. A new rule designed to save taxpayers` money requires the VA to find out whether there are local hospitals it can buy or lease before it builds new facilities.

The VA recently sent form letters to hospitals in four areas targeted for new VA hospital construction -- Palm Beach County, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Augusta, Ga. -- asking the hospitals if they were up for sale or lease.